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Just War Theory

From dKosopedia

Theory

Just War theory is a set of moral principles to be used in determining (a) when fighting a war is justified jus ad bello and (b) concerning proper conduct of war jus in bello. It is distinct from pacifism, an ethical or moral objection to the use of force, and from the Geneva Convention, a diplomatic agreement that establishes war crimes and their consequences.

Just War theory was first codified by Augustine, who made it religiously possible for Christians to participate in war. If Augustine developed a theory that overcame early Christian pacificism, Thomas Aquinas and his followers further developed just war theory in opposition to religious crusades. As summarized by leading contemporary Just War theorist Michael Walzer: "Just war [<i.jus ad bellow</i>] was an argument of the religious center against pacifists, on the one side, and holy warriors, on the other, and because of its enemies (and even though its proponents were theologians), it took shape as a secular theory." (The Triumph of Just War Theory (and the Dangers of Success).) Jus in bello is an argument against the idea, expressed by Cicero that during war the law is silent (inter armes leges silent). (Compare the modern saying: All's fair in love and war.)

Just War theory is now widely used in and outside the church, and is in fact studied by officers in the US Armed Forces.

The basic principle underlying just war is that "competent authority" (those in whom governing responsibility has been invested) has a responsibility to protect the innocent. This differs from classic Christian pacifism, which maintains that violence cannot be resolved with violence, and seeks another way of changing the situation. Neither ethical system is entirely satisfactory.

There are six criteria that must be met before taking up arms can be considered "just". These are sometimes collectively referred to as jus ad bello:


In addition to the jus ad bello criteria, there are two criteria for jus in bello, or conduct in war:

Whether or not the war in question is justified under the jus ad bello guidelines above, forces are expected to abide by the jus in bello standards.

The Wikipedia entry on Just War adds two points to the jus in bello list, concerning torture and treatment of prisoners of war. However, these are usually considered under the criterion of discrimination, above.

Applications

The application of these principles to the war in Iraq reveals (albeit in hindsight) the Bush administration's shaky case for war. For example, the administration claimed "just cause" due to a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, a link that was exposed as false after the beginning of the war.

It is more difficult to assess the other criteria: the intentions of the administration have never been made clear, despite a number of different and sometimes conflicting claims. The same is true of their hope of success; since it is still unclear what they hoped to accomplish, it is difficult to say whether or not they had a reasonable hope of achieiving that goal. (To the extent that the administration's goals are known, however, it seems safe to say there was no reasonable hope of success, at least not outside of neo-con circles.)

It also seems clear that the administration did not exhaust all alternatives to war.

The most difficult--and disturbing--of the criteria, however, are preference and proportionality. Because the aims of the war were never clearly delineated, we can only guess as to what might have happened had we not gone to war. At the very least, it is safe to conclude that the administration's claims of Iraqi complicity in terror networks and possession of weapons of mass destruction were greatly overstated, if not downright fraudulent. This leads to the conclusion that the administration was desperate to avoid consideration of the just war criteria exactly because they were fearful of not meeting them. That, in turn, suggests that the Iraq war is built on an ethical foundation as unstable as the sands of that country's desert.

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This page was last modified 00:12, 3 July 2006 by Chad Lupkes. Based on work by dKosopedia user(s) One of the people and Pastordan. Content is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.


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